Don't Let Soil-Borne Diseases Ruin Your Vegetable Crop

Protects plants from damping off disease

Defends tomatoes, squash, melons and more

Harmful soil fungi like pythium and fusarium cause root diseases that can devastate the most promising plants. Our all-organic Root Shield forms a defensive barrier right from the start. This university-tested beneficial fungus forms a symbiotic bond with plant roots, protecting them from soil pathogens all season long. Add it to potting soil or mix with water to use as a drench.

I have never been able to grow cucumbers in my poor soil. This season I tried again with two transplants. One died and the other was looking like it wanted to. I drenched the soil around the small, limp, cucumber plant with Root Shield and a week later it has healthy new growth and flowers.

I have used this on seedlings (orchid seedlings), they can be difficult... But with this product, it helps prevent damping-off, by a land-slide! I love this stuff! Last year, when I took my orchids outside, with the heat/humidity, I lost a few orchids to root rot, and damping off. This year, I started using RootShield in the spring, and (so far, here in the end of July) I haven't lost anything... This stuf helps a lot! I am ordering some more right now!

As for the Trichoderma fungus (the species in RootShield) lasting, reproducing, and being there the next spring... Unless your winter temps stay above 50°F, it will not survive for the next spring.

2011 was the first year that I used Root Shield. Our tomatoes were wonderful! Prior to that year, our tomato plants looked healthy one day and would be dying the next. I am looking forward to harvest in 2012!

I had an outbreak of powdery mildew in my greenhouse last season. I left the soil go fallow over the winter and used this when I planted new plants this spring. No powdery mildew or anything 2 months after planting. I am thinking about using some Serenade as a preventative. I don't want to get that again.

For the past 6 years or so, I used another company's powder that is supposed to help prevent soil-borne fungal diseases on plants. It worked somewhat, but I always lost 1-3 tomatoes out of 8. And sometimes one or two Wave Petunias or Minipetunias. So, this year I decided to try Root Shield. So far, I have NOT lost any tomatoes--8 out of 8 are thriving and most have fruit on them. In past years, by the time the tomatoes had begun to have fruit on them, at least one tomato would be dying of fusarium wilt, especially the cherry tomatoes. This year, NONE of them shows the slightest incidence of disease. I fully expect to lose at least one tomato later on, but so far--so good.

I also used this product on the mini-petunias in baskets. I usually lose at least one out of 6 baskets of plants, but so far, they are all thriving--in fact, they are blooming better than I have ever seen them! I used potting soil with some fertilizer in it, but I did last year, too, and they never did this well! So, not only does this product seem to prevent some soil-borne fungal diseases, but it seems to help promote profuse blooming, as well.

So, if anyone has limited space in which to plant things, and cannot rotate, this product could very well be what you need to enable you to keep on planting!

Last year I lost all of my tomato to fusarium wilt within 14 days of planting. This year I planted again in late February and all my tomato plants are now robust, full of buds, and some have baby tomatoes. Rootshield isn't making my plants grow faster.... it is just protecting them so that they can grow. I plan to use rootshield on my periwinkles which seem to have this wilt problem too.

I'm hoping that the beneficial fungus protecting the tomato roots will survive the heat and water drenched climate here when summer finally arrives. The instructions with the rootshield product indicate that the beneficial fungus may survive and multiply for the next year (I'm not sure if it depends on the climate of your area). Since I have limited garden and potting space, I have to plant in the same areas each year. I will use Rootshield, again, next year just to be sure.

Regarding the "mess" of preparation: I used a clean plastic gallon milk/water jug. I added a little bit of water in the jug first (one or two cups of water). Then I added the rootshield powder and swished the water around in the jug to mix thoroughly. The small opening of the jug (and small amount of added water) keeps everything contained in the jug (better still if you have the plastic top to the jug). Then I added more water, then swished until I had filled the gallon jug. Not too much mess. When I planted my tomatoes, I poured some mixture into the hole with the transplanted tomato, and then topped it off after I covered the tomato with soil. I tend to use these gallon jugs for easy measuring of garden fertilizers, etc. since most everything gives you instructions for "gallon" measurements. When the jug becomes cracked I just rinse and recycle.

I used Root Shield on tomatoes planted in very large sterilized pots. Sterilized organic potting soil was used in the pots. Tomato plants show none of the fungus problems I've seen in the previous few years. Plants are vigorous and yield is developing very well.

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